WASHINGTON (JTA) – As the 2024 election kicks into gear, both Republicans and Democrats are again using Israel as a wedge issue.
A lot has changed in both countries since the last presidential election, but in the halls of Congress, the battle over Israel is playing out in familiar ways.
Republicans have accused US President Joe Biden of snubbing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he has yet to invite to the White House amid policy disagreements. Meanwhile, Democrats say foreign aid to Israel is at risk from Republicans’ proposed spending cuts.
And leaders in both parties have indicated that, even in the midst of a high-stakes battle over the debt ceiling, demonstrating support for Israel remains a priority. Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Speaker of the House, took time this week to lead a bipartisan delegation to Israel, where he addressed the Knesset.
That comes just a week after Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader of New York, led his own delegation to Israel, and laid a wreath to mark its Memorial Day.
A recent visit to Israel to demonstrate his support: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to launch his bid for the GOP presidential nomination this month.
McCarthy’s speech to Israel’s parliament was nonpartisan, but his remarks to reporters were short. McCarthy told Israel Hayom, a right-leaning news outlet, that he was wrong not to invite Netanyahu to Washington, adding that Netanyahu has waited “too long” since returning to office in December.
“If it doesn’t, I will invite the prime minister to meet with the House,” McCarthy said. “He is a dear friend, as prime minister of a country with whom we have the closest ties.”
Amir Ohana, the speaker of the Knesset and a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, indicated that his invitation to McCarthy was a rebuke to Biden. The US president has indicated he is not interested in meeting Netanyahu until the prime minister limits the influence of his far-right coalition partners, and backs off from his controversial effort to undermine the judiciary Are. Biden has said the judicial overhaul would undermine Israel’s democracy.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida speaks during an event with former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona at Florida International University on September 12, 2022 in Miami. (AP/Rebecca Blackwell)
As McCarthy was getting ready to leave Israel, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a senior Democrat, was telling aides that Republican budget maneuvers were jeopardizing American aid to Israel.
Wasserman Schultz’s warning came after House Republicans voted, along party lines, to pass a debt ceiling bill that would cap and then reduce government spending. What, exactly, the bill proposes to cut and keep is unclear. But Wasserman Schultz, a Jewish representative from South Florida, said the bill’s language cuts all non-defense spending, including foreign aid. This means, she said, that the $3.3 billion Israel receives annually in defense aid could be reduced by as much as $726 million.
“It puts Israel’s security at risk,” Wasserman Schultz told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Without any specifics or explicit security, we cannot be sure that Israel is safe.”
McCarthy has pitched the debt ceiling bill as an early gamble: It has no chance of moving forward as it is in the Democratic-led Senate, and McCarthy has said he will seek exclusivity once negotiations begin. It is required by law to raise the amount the government is able to borrow, or it risks defaulting on its loans.
On Sunday, McCarthy’s spokesman told JTA that security aid to Israel would remain intact, and McCarthy clarified this pledge in his Knesset speech the next day. “As long as I am speaker, the United States will continue to support full funding for security assistance to Israel,” he said.
In some ways, this week’s debate mirrors the way Israel was discussed in 2011, the last time a Democratic president was up for re-election because Republicans controlled the House. In the aftermath, Republicans rebuked President Barack Obama for being insufficiently friendly toward Israel, while Democrats warned that Republican spending cuts would hurt aid to Israel.
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks at a special session of the Knesset plenum on May 1, 2023. (Jonathan Sindel/Flash90)
But Wasserman Schultz said that in one respect that year’s Republican spending bill was less risky for Israel. Prior to the 2010 election, Representative Eric Cantor, a Jewish Republican, pledged that Israel’s spending was holy, and a subsequent Republican bill stated that aid to Israel would not be reduced.
Wasserman Schultz said of this year’s spending bill, “They don’t have anything specific in that bill to make sure that foreign aid to Israel is protected.”
Wasserman Schultz is not the only one who sought assurances that aid to Israel would be left alone. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby, has also called for Israel cuts to be taken off the table.
AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittman told JTA, “We are continuing our work with leaders in Congress to ensure full funding of security assistance to Israel without any additional conditions.” “This is a top legislative priority, as it is in the security interests of the United States and our ally Israel, and we are pleased that several members of Congress have already written to senior members of the Appropriations Committee in support of this funding.”
Wasserman Schultz said that while he welcomed McCarthy’s reassurances on Israel, he was concerned that Republican cuts could affect foreign aid overall. AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups have also stated that foreign aid in general – not just to Israel – is necessary to maintain American influence internationally.
“Words matter, but the actions in the House Republican Default on America bill don’t match the House,” she said in a text message Monday, using a derogatory name for the Republican bill. “But even if his caucus allows him to follow through on those words, a drastic cut in default on the Americas Act will undermine support for our partners and diplomatic efforts in the region and Israel’s overall security.” will reduce.”
Asked about the debt ceiling talks in Jerusalem, McCarthy said that in at least one case, he and the prime minister were in the same boat.
“The president still hasn’t spoken to me,” he said, just hours before Biden invited him to the White House to begin debt ceiling talks. “I’m a bit like Netanyahu.”